Behind The Scenes Of Rx Drug Dealing

(CBS)  In paradise - around Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. - there's an epidemic.

"Upper-middle class individuals from good families, solid families that are becoming addicted to pharmaceutical drugs," said Sgt. Lisa McElhaney of the Broward County Sheriff's office.

McElhaney told CBS News anchor Katie Couric that Florida's a hot-spot.

"The accessibility to these drugs is tremendous," she said. "The supply is right there."

Right there in the family medicine cabinet.

And increasingly, kids are trading drugs at school. Kids as young as middle school.

Then there are the drug dealers. And they have a big advantage in Florida.

While 35 other states have voted for a centralized computer system to monitor all prescriptions, Florida has no such law.

That's led to the opening and brazen advertising of dozens of roadside pain-management clinics.

"We have individuals from Massachusetts, Ohio, West Virginia driving down to Ft. Lauderdale … to visit pain clinics and obtain large quantities of drugs," McElhaney said.

They make the trip because at some of the clinics they meet up with corrupt doctors like Raul Jiminez.

"I was accomodating. You want this medication. This is what you need?" Jiminez said. "Fine. You don't really need it? Well, I'll give it to you anyway."

Dr. Jiminez was essentially a doctor and a drug dealer?

"Yes, he was a licensed drug dealer," McElhaney said.

Jiminez was the man to see - turning the honest medical practice of pain management into street-corner drug dealing.

"We wanted our market share," he said. "And you know, we didn't wanna lose a patient."

And the patients know exactly what is required on their end to close the deal.

"They tell the doctor whatever they want and they walk out with a combination, or a cocktail of drugs," McElhaney explained.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jason Arthur knows all about conning doctors. But this addict-turned-drug dealer took the scam to an even higher level.

"I suppose you could say it was a business," Arthur said.

Like any good businessman, Arthur kept meticulous records: notebooks filled with details of his drug deals and his false identities.

"I was doing so many names and so many prescriptions, I had to keep them straight somehow," he said.

On his best days, Arthur would hit 10 pharmacies, getting thousands of pills to sell. His specialty was forging doctors' signatures.

"He not only was forging them; he manufactured his own prescriptions," McElhaney explalined.

So he had the prescription pads made?

"Yes, and they were very good," she said.

The dealer and the doctor. Neither man seemed to take their crimes very seriously. But McElhaney's prescription drug unit did.

"They found my notebooks in the car," Arthur said. "You know, blank prescriptions ... written prescriptions."

He faces 75 years in prison. And Raul Jiminez is no longer a doctor. He's been stripped of his medical license, and now works in a gas station.

"And I'm facing 75 years for prescription drug trafficking," he said.

Sending dealers to prison is just part of stopping this epidemic of prescription drug abuse. According to McElhaney, the real answers start right at home.

"Lock up your medicines. These are dangerous, tempting substances to inquisitive children," she said. "Don't leave them where they accessible to kids."

[qblues]

I hope that methadone doesn''t get the bad rap it always does. Even though the clinics can be a huge pain to deal with, it''s the best thing that could''ve ever happened to me.
I wonder where all these so~called docs were when I needed them! Handing out scripts like candy?! I think not, especially when I was looking!
Also, there is a real thing called "Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome" When someone is depressed & they''ve tried all the anti~depressants around (like I did) & the only thing that''ll make a difference is an opiate! There are articles, & I know how true they are, that explain this VERY clearly! Check them out! eg; "Ignorance Kills.com

[aliasra]

I would just like to say that suboxone has been around for a while. A lot of people abuse that as well. Another thing i would like to add is that the doctor has to have a special DEA # to prescribe Suboxone. Just like methadone. Only they dont have to write for pain on it. I worked at a pharmacy long enough to know these facts. Ive seen people pop these pills at the register.

[feelnormal]

They said Suboxone was still in clinical trials but it was FDA approved in 2002 and is in pharmacies NOW!! You can find a doctor at www.naabt.org/local

[feelnormal]

Tonight''s segment is supposed to be about Suboxone. Can''t wait!

[najohn1]

How about having a war on addiction, instead of a war on drugs? People are increasingly becoming addicted to prescription painkillers. They''re are people that need them true, but not everyone needs them for Long periods of time? Maybe we should start educating people about what happens when you become physically dependent, and/or addicted to ''drugs''. How the mu receptor in the brain is affected, and the medications that are now available to ''treat'' them. Education is what the public needs, not ''strictly'' incarceration! Expensive treatment facilities do not teach how to live ''normal lives'', and they don''t teach how to heal those mu receptors. Have a look at naabt.org, to see what I''m talking about. You will be amazed!

[feelnormal]

We know there is a drug problem, what people don''t know is what to do about it. Some people can be treated by their doctor without having to go to expensive inpatient facilities. If you have a loved one who needs help for opioid addiction learn all of the facts. www.FeelNormal.org

Treatment really works!!

[mm1973-2009]

Ok I get that people abuse these types of drugs but there are people who live with chronic pain and cant seem to get any help for it!!! We are told it is all in our heads or that we are depressed ( doctors are more than willing to give an anti-depressant) Well I am not depressed and if I didnt have pain I would be more active and happy to go and have fun but the reality is I live in pain 24 hours a day. I have Fibromyalgia, Spondylitis, and Chronic Fatigue syndrome I am in constant pain and up until about a year ago I couldnt get any help. I had been placed on every anti-depressant available and nothing helped I have had MRI''s, CT scans, Blood Test, Etc trying to come up with some reason for my pain because most of my conditions are auto-immune and alot of doctors believe they dont even exist that my pain isnt real!!!
Well my pain is VERY REAL... and I finally found a doctor who is trying to help but she is limited by the government as to what she can give me and how much so I have to spread my meds out to make it last. So even with the pain meds I still live in pain! I cant get disability because according to the government because I can go to the restroom without help I am not eligible for disability. I feel something needs to be done, people should not have to live in pain and not be able to get help.

[grammawhamma]

me4prezz said: Just keep in perspective that some people legitmately need these medications and stories like these make doctors afraid to legitimately prescribe them. My mom has ovarian cancer and has severe back pain and her doctor refuses to prescribe her pain medication. She has end-stage cancer people!


Find your mom a new doctor ASAP. If she is in end stage cancer...contact your local hospice. They will administer pain meds to terminally ill patients. Good luck to you and your mom.

[grammawhamma]

All of the commercials on TV for (prescription) drugs should be banned. "Ask your doctor if this might be right for you." NO NO NO...what did your doctor go to school to for many years...so you could tell him/her what drug you saw on TV that you "think" might be right for you!?? Cigarette commercials were banned years ago...now do away with the prescription drug commercials.

Prescription narcotic abuse is a major problem in my community with teens and adults. Doctors are afraid of not treating someone who truely has pain vs those patients who "cry wolf" and then turn around and sell it on the street to kids and make a big profit. I''m not sure what the answer is....its sad.

[me4prezz]

Just keep in perspective that some people legitmately need these medications and stories like these make doctors afraid to legitimately prescribe them. My mom has ovarian cancer and has severe back pain and her doctor refuses to prescribe her pain medication. She has end-stage cancer people!

I am also on pain medications for fibromyalgia. The pain can be absolutely debilitating at times. When I wasn''t on the pain medication, I was useless. I couldn''t take care of my kids, myself, my home, my job. I lost one job for it. I finally got on a pain medication that helped, but I still have really bad days with flareups.

Do not confuse people looking for a high from those who have real pain issues and take medication as directed to deal with the physical pain.